A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 3 Scripted Phrases

"Name?"

"Wu Liang".

"Profession?"

"Lawyer...wait a minute, officer, are you interrogating me?"

Wu Liang sat in the interrogation room of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Chuanhe District, facing the eight large characters on the opposite wall: "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely."

The atmosphere, the setup, the lighting.

Criminal police captain Zhao Anmin sat opposite him, a notebook open in front of him, and glanced at him.

"The procedure requires identity verification. Does Attorney Wu have any objections to the procedure?"

"No, no, not at all." Wu Liang quickly waved his hand, pulling a cigarette case from his pocket. "Just your tone almost made me think I had to defend myself. You truly are a veteran detective!"

Zhao Anmin didn't respond, but tapped the no-smoking sign on the table with the tip of his pen.

Wu Liang gave an awkward smile and put the cigarette box away.

"Please continue."

"age?"

"Twenty-four."

"Place of household registration?"

"Chuanhe District of this city."

"Work unit?"

"Yuanda Law Firm is located on the old street in the east of the city."

Zhao Anmin finished writing down every word, then closed his pen and leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, identity verification is complete. Tell me about what happened in Shiqiao Village the night before last."

Wu Liang blinked: "Didn't I tell your colleague about it last night? That person..."

"Sun Jin," Zhao Anmin reminded him.

"Yes, yes, Officer Sun. I said everything I needed to say at the time. My assistant and I went to Shiqiao Village to provide legal advice. After we finished, we had a meal at a villager's house. On our way back, we passed by the village road, and when we shone our flashlights on it—"

"Alright, that's not important," Zhao Anmin coughed, interrupting. "What I want to ask is, after you went down into the pit, did you touch that skeleton?"

Wu Liang realized that this was to confirm the fact.

"I didn't touch it." He shook his head. "When the remains were discovered, I was still on the edge of the pit. Later, the young couple got scared and tried to climb out of the pit, and I even reached out and pulled them up."

"But that's on the other side of the pit, far from the bones."

Did you step on it when you were pulling people along?

"No. The bottom of the pit was muddy, so I didn't go down; I just gave you a hand."

After listening, Zhao Anmin turned his head and glanced at the one-way glass.

A moment later, the door opened, and forensic doctor Lao Zhou poked half his head in.

"What he said is correct, and it matches what the other group of complainants said," Old Zhou nodded.

"There were no fresh scratches on the surface of the bones, and the surrounding soil showed no signs of recent trampling or disturbance. The sets of footprints in the pit should all be fresh."

Zhao Anmin nodded and made a note in his notebook.

"Alright, Attorney Wu, everything that needed to be verified has been verified. Thank you for coming today. We'll contact you again if we need anything further. Also, please don't spread any information about this case."

Is this over?

Wu Liang breathed a sigh of relief, after all, being interrogated was not a pleasant experience, but he put on a smile.

"Officer, you're too kind. Cooperating with the police investigation is a citizen's duty, but..."

He stood up from his chair as he spoke.

"Since I'm already here, I'd like to meet someone while I'm at it."

Zhao Anmin raised his head.

"Whom are you going to see?"

"Zhou Hai. The one who ran someone over in the parking garage." Wu Liang smiled. "I'm his lawyer."

Zhao Anmin raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You took that case? Do you know what happened?"

"I understand clearly."

Zhao Anmin stared at him for two seconds, grunted through his nose, and called out.

"Strategy".

"arrive!"

A trainee police officer strode in through the door, his loud voice echoing in the interrogation room.

Zhao Anmin tucked the notebook under his arm and gestured with his chin toward Fang Lue.

"Take him to complete the visitation procedures."

"yes!"

Zhao Anmin stood up and walked to the door, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Wu Liang.

"How confident are you about Zhou Hai's case?"

Wu Liang blinked.

"Officer, isn't this against the rules? You're a detective, and I'm a defense attorney. We're discussing this—"

"Never mind, I didn't ask."

Zhao Anmin waved his hand, picked up his thermos, and left.

The interrogation room fell silent.

Wu Liang turned to look at Fang Lue, who was also looking at him, and their eyes met.

"Attorney Wu, please come with me."

"Alright."

The two walked out of the interrogation room one after the other.

The walls of the corridor are covered with various promotional slogans, all with a uniform layout and serious, dignified fonts.

The two walked side by side. Wu Liang turned his head and glanced at the trainee police officer.

The shoulder insignia are those of a cadet, and a pen is tucked into the breast pocket with the words "People's Public Security University" printed on the cap.

As expected, she's a recent graduate.

"Officer Fang."

Fang Lue paused, then turned his head to the side.

"What is it?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you just graduated from the Public University, right?"

Fang Lue was stunned for a moment, not understanding how this person could tell.

Am I still not like a veteran police officer? That shouldn't be the case.

"Yes. I just graduated this year."

"What a coincidence," Wu Liang said with a smile. "I have a classmate from university who got into your school's graduate program, majoring in criminal investigation. His name is Zhang Wei. Do you know him?"

"Zhang Wei? Oh, I think I've heard of him. His advisor is Professor Chen, right?"

"Yes, yes, it's Professor Chen."

Wu Liang hadn't expected that the name he'd made up on the spot would actually come up to him, so he continued, "I heard that Professor Chen is particularly strict with his students, revising their papers more than ten times before letting them pass."

Fang Lue nodded, deeply moved.

"It wasn't just a dozen times. I heard from a graduate student that Professor Chen used a red pen to revise papers. After he finished revising, the whole page was red. It was more frightening than a crime scene."

"That's right. By the way, Officer Fang, I saw that skull with my own eyes that night, and I had nightmares for half the night afterward."

Fang Lue glanced at him with sympathy.

"That's normal. I felt the same way the first time I saw a body scene."

"How long do you think this person has been buried?" Wu Liang asked casually. "The bones are all like that."

Fang Lue subconsciously replied, "The forensic doctor said it's at least fifteen years, but we'll have to wait for the exact date—"

He suddenly stopped talking and turned his head warily.

Wu Liangzheng looked at him with a smile.

Fang Lue quickly put on a stern face.

"Attorney Wu, the case is still under investigation, so it is not convenient to disclose specific details."

"I understand, I understand." Wu Liang raised his hands, looking completely innocent. "I was just asking casually."

The registration process was straightforward. After Wu Liang presented his lawyer's license, the female police officer in charge quickly completed the process.

"Meeting Room Number Three, please wait for ten minutes."

"Thanks."

Wu Liang put away his documents and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, Fang Lue suddenly called out to him.

"Attorney Wu."

Wu Liang turned around.

Fang Lue hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice.

"Is there any possibility that Zhou Hai will be acquitted in his case?"

Wu Liang looked into the eyes of the trainee police officer.

Young, clean-cut, and not yet worn down by too many cases, his intuition about "fairness" has been dulled.

"What do you think?" Wu Liang asked in return.

Fang Lue thought about it for a moment.